Scifi… From A Certain Point Of View

Tag Archives: scifi series

Believe me when I say that this article and title is right on the money. While both Trek movies from 2009 combined made over a billion dollars, I believe Paramount is not thinking long-term enough. Fine, the new director Robert Orci has written a boatload of tv shows and some great movies as well as serving as either producer or executive producer. Star Trek 3 will be his first outing at least that is what I found on IMDB. I’m not so keen about this idea because this is not the normal course of action to hire directors especially on big movies like Trek.

On the Fly II with Eric Stoltz, makeup artist/sfx Chris Walas from the first movie became the director of the sequel. Sadly, anyone following David Cronenberg’s work has a hard act to follow regardless. Walas taking over the reigns for the Fly 2, while it had some good moments, failed to rival or even come close to the first. Let’s move to Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation which was headed by Phil Tippet. Star Wars fans and other great visual f/x movies will know that Phil’s great talent is making great visual f/x. Trying to follow the very skilful job that Paul Verhooven did in the first Starship Troopers was next to impossible much like the same problem Walas had. The budget was smaller to fit a smaller story and except for nudity to keep me awake there was very little to watch. I love Phil and will always have a place in my heart as he played the Rancor monster in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Another example is Frank Marshall. He has been a phenomenal producer and executive producer. One could almost watch any Spielberg movie and see Frank’s name. He had also turned to directing and has had some modest success. His first movie was Arachnophobia but I believe his better movie was Alive which was based on the plane crash in the Andes Mountain. However, Congo adapted from Michael Crichton’s book of the same name is sadly forgettable. All these examples are to help illustrate that hiring Robert Orci maybe a mistake given the track records of those I mentioned. However, let us look forward to a future where Paramount can be happy with the future of Star Trek.

Taking a cue from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Paramount needs to re-establish the Star Trek Universe (STU). Let’s start with mentioning the original series (TOS) that started the franchise. We then get three Star Trek movies one of the best Trek movie of all times. Star Trek gets back to tv with The Next Generation (TNG). Trek 4 makes a big splash with Nimoy taking the director’s chair and making this a more accessible film for non Trek fans. Trek 5 is nearly killed by Shatner’s hand but 6 makes up the last movie for the original cast and ends their run on a high note. TNG then takes over with their turn on the big screen: Generations and First Contact (their best movie by Frakes). Luckily another Trek series on tv comes into play Deep Space Nine (DS9). TNG fires back on the screen with Insurrection also directed by Frakes but lacks any real bite like First Contact. Star Trek launches Voyager (VOY) on the small screen. TNG makes one last movie Nemesis (worst ever). The last Trek series is called Enterprise (ENT). And then the two movies by JJ Abrams. Got that? Moving on.

Why did I go through all that? To showcase my Trek nerd cred… sh’yeah. More importantly, where do we go with STU? Abrams movie gave us a rebooted Trek universe that can allow us to do anything or do it all over again. Let’s do some creative planning and make this next movie a launch for bigger things. I believe the time is right for another Trek series on tv. Last year, there were rumors of two series in the vein of CSI. UHM, OK? But I would rather see 5 year missions or show how TNG, DS9, or VOY might fare in this alternate Trek history Maybe we get a Picard with hair? A female Data? Or nasty Ferengis as was once visioned by Roddenberry? Think of the possibilities for use fans and for the fans of the future. In between, lace these series with movies on the big screen and empire for Paramount can rise though not as mightly as MCU but still better than the Spiderman franchise over at Sony. Now is the time to plan big.

Paramount Pictures is taking a huge risk naming screenwriter Roberto Orci to direct the next film in the Star Trek movie franchise, Fool contributor Tim Beyers says in the the following video.

According to an exclusive report in Variety last week, Orci, whose screenwriting credits include work on Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, will team with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to write the threequel. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are expected to reprise their roles as Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.

Good news, right? If only it were that simple. Instead, history shows the franchise is suffering decelerating returns. According to The-Numbers.com, Star Trek earned a combined $578.6 million including box office, DVD, and Blu-ray revenue. Star Trek Into Darkness earned $540.4 million on the same basis. Orci is taking on a turnaround story.

Early on Friday morning, I had to drive once more from Miami to Tampa for a MLIS class. Along the way, I had to make a pit stop for gas and food. Since I was there, I had to use the men’s room which was separate from the station. As I walk up to the men’s room door, I noticed this image right outside. Not only did I have to take this picture for geeky reasons but I notice the streak of um….fluids running along side the famous Heroes icon. Since I had stopped watching Heroes as of last week, this image just proved to me about my feelings were correct. I know I couple of people still watching the show and I have to ask…why? I could list all the reasons why I stopped but I would be interested to hear all the reasons why I should be watching. Email me or post som comments.

Share this:

Like this:

Coming April 29, 2008, from 7:30pm – 8:30pm Eastern Standard Time, the first Scifi & Fantasy Book Group will begin to explore Frank Herbert’s world of Dune. This invitation will be open to everyone and we do mean everyone. There are several ways to join in on the fun. You go to Dune Book Group hosted by Google to read articles about Dune the book and movies ahead of time, make comments, and even post your own insights. On the date of the event, sign up on Meebofor a free IM account and join us in a chat room on that day from virtually everywhere and anywhere. Or lastly, join us in person at the Miami Lakes Branch Public Library. Click here for the library address.